Willamette Women's Track and Field Team is Ranked #21 in the Nation

By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director, (503) 370-6110

SALEM, ORE. -- In this week's NCAA Division III national computer rankings, the Willamette University women's track and field team is #21, according to the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). Willamette remains #4 in the women's West Region rankings.

The #1 women's team remains University of Wisconsin-La Crosse with 220.69 points. The Warhawks hold a considerable lead over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (Calif.), which is ranked #2 with 139.34 points. Washington University (Mo.) is listed at #3 with 114.20 points.

Illinois Wesleyan is the #4-ranked team at 104.13, while University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire is #5 at 98.21. Massachusetts Institute of Technology is ranked #6 at 92.39, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh is #7 at 89.00, and California Lutheran University is #8 at 74.22.

Barely trailing California Lutheran is Baldwin Wallace College (Ohio) with 74.21 points and the #9 rankings. The #10 team in the rankings is George Fox University with 64.31 points. Willamette is listed at #21 with 52.83 points, up 4.67 points from last week, when the Bearcats were #20.

George Fox and Willamette are the only teams from the Northwest Conference listed currently included in the women's national rankings.

Team rankings are determined by assigning points to athletes ranked high on the national performance lists. Each team's score is the sum of their athletes point totals.

UW-La Crosse is ranked #1 in the men's national rankings with 206.25 points. UW-Whitewater follows at #2 with 145.89 points, while University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire remains at #3 with 145.31 points.

The #4 and #5 teams for the men are different this week. Monmouth College (Illinois) made a huge move from #27 up to #4 and now has 116.61 points. Augustana College (Illinois) jumped from #7 to #5 and has 112.68 points.

The West Region women's rankings are topped by Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (Calif.) at 678.0 points. George Fox holds the #2 ranking at 481.85. Whitworth is listed at #3 with 400.08 points and Willamette is #4 with 335.94 points. Pomona-Pitzer (Calif.) is #5 at 261.58 points.

GFU, Whitworth and Willamette were joined by two other NWC teams on the women's West Region list. Linfield College is #9 at 175.86 and Pacific Lutheran University is #10 at 146.27. The top nine teams in the women's West Region rankings remained the same from last week, with Pacific Lutheran moving up from #11 to join the top 10.

Leading the West Region men's rankings is Claremont-Mudd-Scripps with 517.95 points. Whitworth follows at #2 with 422.41 and Occidental College (Calif.) is #3 at 307.71. George Fox advanced one position to #4 and has 299.10 points. University of Redlands (Calif.) dropped one spot to #5 at 276.74.

Five Willamette women's track and field athletes are ranked in the top 25 of this week's NCAA Division III performance list. Three of the athletes are ranked in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase.

Michaela Freeby (Sr., Milwaukie, OR/Rex Putnam HS) continues to be #1 in the steeplechase with a personal record time of 10:30.09 at the San Francisco State Distance Carnival on April 3. Taylor Ostrander (Jr., Kenai, AK/Kenai Central HS) is #4 at 10:52.24, while Hannah Bressler (Jr., Oak Harbor, WA/Oak Harbor HS) is #11 at 10:59.31.

Olivia Mancl (So., Seattle, WA/Roosevelt HS) is listed at #10 in the 1,500-meter run at 4:34.71. She earned her top time at the Willamette Invitational on March 28.

Meka Townsend (Jr., Okanogan, WA/Okanogan HS) slipped one spot in the women's javelin throw to #22 with a top distance of 131' 4".

At the end of the regular season, the top 22 athletes in each women's event will qualify for the 2015 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The NCAA Championships will be held May 21-23 at Merrick-Pinkard Track & Field Complex in Canton, N.Y.